The fact that many couples can leverage two incomes and combine and reduce many costs also helps improve their finances. So as a couple, you may be in a better position to maintain a solid financial footing or be on a good path toward getting there.
Married people can qualify for higher income thresholds, tax deductions, and tax credits. Here's one powerful example: When you sell a home as a single person, there's a home sale exclusion of up to $250,000 available. For a couple, it goes up to $500,000.
Tax breaks
Married couples who file their tax returns jointly may qualify for higher tax deductions and credits than single filers. This is beneficial because you'll also be combining your incomes on a joint tax return. And if you own a home together, the exclusion for taxes on the proceeds of the sale is doubled.
Financial well-being
Research shows that couples with no assets are 70% more likely to divorce within three years than couples with $10,000+ in financial assets. While wealth may not guarantee happiness, some assets may help to create relationship assurance.
Generally, married filing jointly provides the most beneficial tax outcome for most couples because some deductions and credits are reduced or not available to married couples filing separate returns.
Joint filers usually receive higher income thresholds for certain tax breaks, such as the deduction for contributing to an IRA. If you're married and file separately, you may face a higher tax rate and pay more tax. Filing separately may be a benefit if you have a large amount of out-of-pocket medical expenses.
What Tax Benefits Do Married Couples Get? Married couples receive a variety of tax benefits. These include a lower tax rate, combined federal estate and gift tax limit, the possibility of a spousal IRA, higher tax deductions, and a higher personal residence exemption, to name but a few.
These cultural stereotypes persist despite evidence that marriage serves men much more than women in almost every way. Married men are better off than single men; they are healthier, wealthier, and happier.
Legally married couples are able to take advantage of a number of financial benefits, including being able to file joint tax returns, splitting income and pensions, and being entitled to certain government benefits.
Marriage is a transformative act, changing the way two people look at each other, at the future, and at their roles in society. And it changes the way significant others—from family to congregation to insurance companies and the IRS—look at and treat that same couple.
Single people have one major advantage over coupled people when it comes to budgeting: balancing a budget is way less complex when you only have to worry about your own income and expenses.
As people progress from mid-life through old age, those who stay single feel happier and happier with their lives. As I discussed previously, a study of 40- to 85-year-olds showed that lifelong single people became increasingly satisfied with their lives as they grew older.
In most cases, it would be better to wait until at least one of them is able to work. “Living on love” is a romantic notion but impractical. Also, if one or both of them carry significant debt, it may be wise to delay marriage to allow time to focus on improving the financial situation beforehand.
Married Men Behave Better
They take fewer risks, eat better, and maintain healthier lifestyles than their single counterparts. Harvard Health also says that married people tend to keep regular doctor appointments and follow doctor recommendations more often than singles.
It provides breathing room to prevent further conflict and gives each person time to reflect and heal. Separation can also allow to experience independence while keeping your relationship legally intact. The legalities of separation also make reuniting easier, should you choose to do so.
But financially speaking, it can actually be more expensive to not get married. “It's important to be realistic about the fact that marriage affords a great number of benefits,” says Frank Summers, a certified financial planner and accredited domestic partnership advisor with Cetera Advisors.
Among Gen Z* respondents, 81% are open to the possibility of getting married, with one in two saying they "definitely" see it happening. In fact, the feelings related to marriage were exciting (66 percent) and anticipatory (72 percent). Only 8% expressed the belief that marriage is "outdated."
Married people are generally happier, but it's not clear if marriage causes or selects for happiness. A study found that women get a boost in happiness before a wedding, and men after it, but it doesn't last. Happy marriages are built by happy partners who have realistic expectations about their future life together.
For some men, marriage can bring a sense of stability and security, as well as a deepening of emotional intimacy with their partner. They may feel a greater sense of responsibility and commitment to their spouse, and may prioritize their spouse's needs and well-being above their own.
Roughly half of all marriages end in divorce, but it is the wives who initiate divorce in 70% of cases. Studies have indicated that it is the expectation (by husbands) that wives do most of the housework and childcare, even though both spouses work the same hours at their jobs.
The 2023 standard deduction is $13,850 for single filers and those married filing separately, $27,700 for those married filing jointly, and $20,800 for heads of household.
Can I File Single If I Am Married? If you try using a tax filing status you do not qualify for, you could be fined up to $250,000 and potentially get up to 3 years in jail.
If you switch from married to one of the other withholding statuses, your take-home pay will be lower. More of your pay is withheld at the single rate than at the rate for married taxpayers.